History

Originally, the property consisted of three separate premises. The corner one at the intersection of Grodzka and Łazienna Sucha Streets (now Stanisława Konarskiego Street) and two more along Konarskiego Street. They were consolidated into one property in 1908.

No archaeological or architectural research has been carried out there.

According to historical records, in the late 17th century the corner plot belonged to Stefan Wierzbicz. In 1753, it belonged to Domicella née Rydzyńska, Gubiczowa by her first marriage (the townhouse was called “Gubiczowska”), Pieściochowa by her second marriage and Pawlicka by her third marriage. Then it was bought by Jakub Makowski and his wife Helena née Pieścioch. After their death, the property was inherited by their sons, Szymon and Kazimierz.

The townhouse was destroyed by a fire that swept through the city in 1786. In 1792, the property was divided between the heirs of Kazimierz and Szymon Makowski - Ludwik Makowski and the Godlewski couple. In 1830, the entire property was managed by Ludwik, who carried out several renovations and repairs in the house. After his death, the townhouse was inherited by his daughter, Leopold, née Makowska Wentzel. In 1851, she sold the property to a butcher - Jan Ender. It was noted in the sale documentation that “the front wall is a bit scratched”. Jan Ender extended the house by adding the first floor and covered the roof with roof tiles and iron sheet metal. In 1870, Ender also bought a plot adjoining the corner plot from the south, on which there was a two-storey, brick townhouse, covered with shingles. In 1869, Ender bought another property at Konarskiego Street. It was occupied by a brick house covered with a shingle roof. After a fire in 1879, Ender renovated both houses. In this way, he became the owner of the entire premises concerned. After his death, the property was inherited by his widow, children and grandchildren. In 1908, they sold it to Moszek Aron and Itta Riviera Sieradzki. At that time, the plots were consolidated into one property, under one address. The premises included a brick, two-storey townhouse covered with an iron roof. After their death, their heirs sold the townhouse to Mordka Goldring. After the Second World War, the townhouse became the property of the State Treasury.

Description

The townhouse is situated in the Old Town area, in the north-west corner of the quarter between the following streets: Grodzka (from the north), Konarskiego (from the west), Pijarska (from the south) and Krakowskie Przedmieście (from the east). The property has the shape of an elongated rectangle, positioned along the north-south axis. The buildings are included in the northern frontage of Grodzka Street and the eastern frontage of Konarskiego Street. The main entrance faces Grodzka Street. There is also an entrance from Konarskiego Street, through the former gateway. Today, the premises can be accessed via the driveway at No. 3 Grodzka Street / No. 3 Pijarska Street. Concrete stairs lead from the yard at No. 3 Grodzka Street to the yard of the property at No. 1 Grodzka Street. A part of the yard is paved and a part is cobbled.

The building does not represent any style.

It was built on an L-shaped floor plan, with a truncated corner. The northern wing – from Grodzka Street has an asymmetrical two-bay layout, with a hallway on the axis. There are stairs in the hallway. The western wing has a three-bay layout. On the southernmost axis, there is the former gateway. From there, there is an entrance leading to the staircase and to the room in the middle bay. In addition, there are entrances to commercial premises from the street. From the yard, there are entrances to apartments on the ground floor. External stairs lead to apartments on the first floor. The building is cellared. Five separate rooms.

The building has two wings of equal height, two-storey, with a non-usable attic. The western wing has a three-hipped roof. There is a gable roof on the side facing Grodzka Street. From the yard at the southern elevation of the north wing, there is a two-storey annex with a porch. The porch provides access to the first floor.

The cellars of the building are made of solid ceramic bricks and fieldstones bound with lime mortar. The walls of the above-ground storeys are made from solid, ceramic bricks laid with lime mortar in a block pattern. The walls were plastered inside and outside with lime mortar.

The cellars are topped with barrel vaults and barrel vaults with lunettes (filled with bricks and then cut out again). The vaults are made from solid ceramic bricks bound with lime mortar. Above the ground floor, there are barrel vaults with lunettes, groin vaults and barrel section vaults supported by vaulting strips. They are made from solid ceramic bricks laid with lime mortar, covered with lime and lime-cement plasters. There are Klein ceilings above some of the utility rooms. The ceilings are made from wooden beams with a soffit, smoothly plastered with lime mortar on a reed mat.

The roof truss in the western wing - wooden, with a rafter and collar beam structure on four queen beams, braced with brackets and raking shores. In the northern wing, the roof truss is wooden and of a purlin and rafter structure. The rafters are supported by a roof ridge purlin and wall plates resting on a knee wall. The purlins rest on the walls of the attic. The building has a gable roof with a roof ridge parallel to Konarskiego Street. Covered with bituminous felt on the roof boarding.

In the cellar, the floor is made of clay mixed with chopped straw. The floors on the ground floor are mostly made of terracotta. On the first floor, there are white plank floors on joists, partially covered with PVC flooring. In the hallway facing Grodzka Street, there are fragments of concrete paving slabs. The balconies are supported by cast iron corbels. The balustrades of the balconies are adorned with decorative metal bars and flat bars. The balcony platforms are made from planks.

A single-flight stairs lead to the cellars. The stairs are straight, with a quarter-turn staircase, constructed from bricks and fieldstones, ladder-type. The brick stairs leading to the first floor rest on Klein ceilings, with steps made of wood. On the side facing Grodzka Street, there are U-shaped stairs with a forged steel balustrade and a wooden handrail. In the staircase facing Konarskiego Street, there are one-flight stairs, with a wooden balustrade, made from turned balusters, and a wooden, profiled handrail. There are also external, single-flight, quarter-turn stairs made from solid ceramic bricks, covered with cement plaster, resting on a Klein ceiling.

Windows with wooden frames, casement-type, casement and frame-type and box-type. Two-wing, double. Each wing is divided into two sections, with a fanlight. In the staircases, there are multi-section windows. Some of the windows have PCV frames. The door to the entrance hall from Grodzka Street - wooden, double-wing, with a glazed fanlight, frame-panelled. Inside, there are wooden, panelled, one or two-wing doors, as well as balcony porte-fenêtre doors with a tiltable fanlight.

The front (northern) elevation is two-storey and eight-axial (the eighth axis in the truncated corner). The axes are defined by rectangular openings. On the ground floor, in the fifth axis from the east, there is a door leading to the hall and the staircase. On the second, third, sixth and seventh axes and in the corner, there are door openings connected with a single shop window. The woodwork in the openings has been made in modern times. The storey is crowned with a cornice strip – the cornices adorn the strip of decorative panels. Above, there are window openings, in profiled surrounds. There is a cornice section above each window. The wall is crowned with a strip of a frieze with decorative panels, surmounted by an under-eaves cornice.

The western elevation has eight axes and two storeys. The ground floor is smoothly plastered and undecorated. The door openings and shop windows are rectangular, with modern woodwork. The storey is crowned with a cornice strip – the cornices adorn the strip of decorative panels. Above, there are window openings in profiled surrounds. There is a section of a cornice above each window. The wall is crowned with a strip of a frieze with decorative panels, surmounted by an under-eaves cornice.

The eastern elevation overlooks the yard, eight-axial, two-storey. Smoothly plastered walls, rectangular openings. In the first, fifth and sixth axes, from the south, there are entrance doors.

The southern elevation is two-axial and two-storey. In front of the wall, there are stairs leading to a wooden porch built on Klein’s platform. The porch with a rectangular, six-section window is covered with a shed roof. There is also a four-section window in the wall of the house. Above it, there is a window lighting the attic.

Private property. The building can be viewed from outside.

Compiled by Agnieszka Lorenc-Karczewska, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Łódź 12 May 2020

Bibliography

• Pietrzak J., Record sheet of monuments of architecture and construction, 1996, Voivodeship Monuments Protection Office in Łódź, National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Warsaw,
• Głowacki K., Urbanistyka Piotrkowa Trybunalskiego, Piotrków Trybunalski – Kielce 1984.
• Kozalski A., Dokumentacja historyczno-archiwalna VII bloku zabudowy staromiejskiej. PKZ Kielce, 1988, typescript of the Voivodeship Monuments Protection Office in Łódź.